Exclusive BA 1st Class Concorde Room Lounge – Heathrow

The Concorde—a name that stirs nostalgia for the golden age of aviation, when supersonic travel was the pinnacle of innovation.

Though its era ended due to commercial challenges, the legend lives on in the form of British Airways’ Concorde Room, their most exclusive lounge. I had the chance to experience this has to offer prior to my BA First Class trip to Muscat a few months back.

Would this lounge deliver something nearly as extraordinary as its namesake aircraft? Let’s find out ! 

Access to BA 1st Class Concorde Room lounge

You must either be flying British Airways First on the day or be a Concorde Card holder (this is a Elite Tier within the Gold Tier status – and for most would require a lifetime of loyalty to British Airways! )

My immediate impression was more of a little disbelief at how crowded the lounge was – this for a First Class lounge?! Now I understand BA claims to be a premium heavy airline. Is this on the basis of quantity rather than quality I wondered? 

The lounge was only recently renovated earlier this year. It’s an elegantly designed space, with a touch of sophistication, subtle, very British!

With areas arranged as little living rooms of their own. After wondering around for some time, I did find little spots here and there with a touch more calm. So it is possible to find a peaceful retreat within.

Then there was the big open bar area in the middle.

I decided to start with a Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle champagne, served with nuts and few other snacks.

Concorde dining

After that I proceeded to the Concorde Dining room. This is very restaurant like, with a la carte dining. The individual booths create some privacy for small groups to dine together

I ordered a carrot soup and Persian chicken terrine to start, followed by an artichoke risotto. They were nice and cooked well.

After half an hour or so I decided to book a cabana room (little private rest areas), finding a 90 minute slot available overlapping my Spa appointment.

I headed out to the terrace, and passed a waiter who asked if I would like anything. I ordered another glass of the excellent LPGS.

To my surprise, my champagne was all forgotten about and 25 min later, I resorted to order it again through another waiter.  The first waiter was now nowhere to be seen!

The outdoor terrace was certainly a great place to relax with a good view out into the taxi-ways and runway further in the distance. Before I know it it was time to go check out the private cabanas!

Cabana

I had looked up pictures of this cabana but being aware of it’s impending refurbishment, I was looking forward to seeing the update.

To my disappointment, that was not the case. It really looked rather depressing and the same hospital like sense I got from pictures. I charged my phone and checked a few messages, before having a shower and then decided to vacate the cabana completely rather than coming back to it from my massage.

Elemis Spa

I somehow ended up being 5 min late of my complementary 15 minute hot stone back massage. The lady had another appointment right after mine, filling out a questionnaire took valuable minutes (when this could easily have been sent in advance and done before-hand? )!

The massage itself was good, but I wondered if it was even worth it and if I should have just enjoyed another drink out in the terrace.

BA could really improve this experience by giving First customers half hour maybe? But then again, I supposed logistically this would be hard to achieve in current form, given the number of people passing through the lounge!

I headed back to the bar for another drink and at this point, the sun had already set, so I decided to take the drink out in the terrace, where I watched some aircraft taxiing. 

About 45 minutes prior to my flight, I made my way to the gates.

Final thoughts

This is certainly a pleasant lounge to spend time and or get your trip off to a flying start, excuse the pun ! Whether you do that by enjoying a multicourse meal, toasting some fine champagne, it would cater for you. 

From this visit however, I cant say it does any of those things spectacularly well!

The service at times was slow and in areas where they could go further, such as offering to escort First passengers to the gate as some First lounges too, BA skimped out on.

The spa options could be fantastic, even if limited and hard to get a slot.  The cabana does need a complete refit with a better choice of furniture and design.

For me the best part is the terrace which offers a great view to spot some planes!